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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25631758">Koala Sheep Therapy</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/chaotic_gastropod/pseuds/chaotic_gastropod'>chaotic_gastropod</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Avatar: The Last Airbender</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Blue Spirit Zuko (Avatar), Gen, Mild Language, Zuko (Avatar)-centric, farmer zuko, koala sheep</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 10:22:21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,704</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25631758</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/chaotic_gastropod/pseuds/chaotic_gastropod</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Iroh is tired of watching his nephew waste his time searching for the Avatar, who has been missing for a hundred years, so he buys a koala sheep farm in the Earth Kingdom.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Iroh &amp; Zuko (Avatar), Toph Beifong &amp; Zuko</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>233</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Koala Sheep Therapy</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>so uhhh im pretty sure koala sheep are only in the fire nation but im just gonna ignore that.</p><p>tw: non-graphic death of an animal</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"You want me to stop hunting the Avatar to go live on some farm? Are you out of your mind?!” the fourteen-year-old Fire Prince screeches.</p><p>His uncle sighs in the way only an exasperated parent can. “It is not just ‘some farm’, Prince Zuko, think of it as the ‘threshold of new opportunities’.”</p><p>“I don't even know what that means,” Zuko says with a frown. “And there is no time. We still haven’t captured the Avatar.”</p><p>“We have yet to look far into the Earth Kingdom. This could be an opportunity to gain information from the locals, who knows what they have seen?”</p><p>Zuko considers this. “Fine. We can stay for two weeks. After that, we are back on the ship to continue our search.”</p><p>“As you wish, Prince Zuko.”</p><p>/\/\/\/\/\/\</p><p>Zuko hates the farm. He hates the old, worn down wooden furniture that came with the farmhouse. He hates the tiny kitchen, tiny sitting room, and tiny bedroom he has to share with his uncle. He hates the boring green Earth Kingdom garbs he has to wear. He hates the looks he gets when he goes into town. He hates that he has to wear a hat to obscure his obviously Fire Nation hair in public. Most of all, he hates the stupid code named they use.</p><p>Zuko and Iroh are the names of royalty. Lee and… Mushi are the names of peasants.</p><p>One thing Zuko does not hate are the koala sheep. As reluctant as he is to admit it, they have stolen his entire heart. Each day he finds himself spending less time in town, searching for information, and spending more time in the fields playing with them, feeding them, and just lying in the grass. It is nice to be in the grass again after a whole year at sea.</p><p>He thought he would be restless. He thought the weeks would be agonizing and pointless and a major set back. He was wrong.</p><p>Iroh watches his nephew from the window, trying to teach one of the koala sheep to roll over, and is happy to see him being a kid again.</p><p>/\/\/\/\/\/\</p><p>‘Town’ is the small settlement known as Jiangshui. It is a smattering of houses, huts, and shops with more people than beds. The war has obviously taken its toll. There are no active Fire Nation soldiers occupying, but the scarred citizens and missing husbands speak for themselves. </p><p>Zuko goes every day after feeding the koala sheep, and Iroh accompanies him. One night he enters a tavern he is much too young to be in, pulls his farming hat low over his face, and asks about the Avatar. The locals just laugh and ask how old he is and why he is interested in a fairytale because the Avatar has been missing for a hundred years. Zuko storms out, punches a wall, and tries his best not to start any fires.</p><p>/\/\/\/\/\/\</p><p>The women of Jiangshui are kind. They call him handsome and invite him in for tea. They offer him food and tell him he’s too skinny. They talk about their own sons who have left to fight in the war. They stare at his scar and frown.</p><p>Zuko can’t stand their kindness. He flinches away when they try to pinch his cheeks, ignores their questions about his past, and bluntly asks if they have heard anything about the Avatar.</p><p>Iroh is always there to make apologies for him. “I’m sorry for my nephew’s manners, he is a little tired today. Long day on the farm, you see.”</p><p>The women simply smile and continue trying to mother him.</p><p>/\/\/\/\/\/\</p><p>During the second week, they make a garden. They plant ginseng, camellia, and other small plants Iroh can use to make his own tea.</p><p>It is a bit of a hassle, but Zuko thrives having a task that isn't asking vague questions about the Avatar to people in town. Iroh tells him to get rocks to line the garden, and he returns dragging a heavy cart of stones through the dirt. He tells him to turn the soil, and Zuko has the shovel in hand before he can finish.</p><p>Iroh doesn't bring up the fact that a garden is a long term investment, and they were only supposed to stay for another few days. He feels that a part of Zuko already knows what it means.</p><p>/\/\/\/\/\/\</p><p>When the two weeks are up, Iroh asks Zuko about returning to the ship. At first Zuko looks shocked that the two weeks have gone by already, and then he panics.</p><p>“It-it’s time already!?”</p><p>“Yes, do you have your belongings packed? I imagine you are excited to get back on the sea. It’s a shame we did not find any leads here, though…” Iroh says, stroking his beard.</p><p>“But, what about the koala sheep? Who's gonna look after them?” Zuko asks, gesturing wildly with his hands at the window.</p><p>“I have someone coming to take over here, of course.”</p><p>“No!” Zuko yells.</p><p>“No?”</p><p>“I-I mean,” Zuko goes red in the face. “I think Fluffy is pregnant, and I don't want her to have to give birth in front of someone she doesn't trust! What if they don't know what to do, and the joey lambs get eaten by boar-q-pine!”</p><p>“...Fluffy?”</p><p>“Don't patronise me!” Zuko yells again, eyes flashing.</p><p>“Im sorry, Prince Zuko. If you wish to stay until Fluffy has her children, I think that is a great decision.” Iroh says.</p><p>Zuko crosses his arms in a closed off manner, but looks at his uncle with the expression of a baby turtleduck. “...Really?” he asks.</p><p>“Yes.”</p><p>/\/\/\/\/\/\</p><p>They stay and Fluffy gives birth the following week. She has two joey-lambs, a male and a female, who Zuko name Coal and Ember.</p><p>Iroh doesn't comment on the names. Instead, he says, "Is it time to return to the ship, Prince Zuko?"</p><p>*No, Puddles has the flu. I can't leave him yet."</p><p>/\/\/\/\/\/\</p><p>The children in town are drawn to Zuko. It unsettles him and he doesn't understand it but it happens anyway. They walk right up to him in the market, call him big brother, try and follow him around, and ask him what battle he was in to get that scar. Zuko scowls and tells them to go home.</p><p>Many of the children, as they readily tell him, have no home. They are orphans, their parents lost to the war or to Fire Nation attacks. They live on the streets and survive off the good will of people with little to give. That, and a little bit of thievery.</p><p>When one of them tells him they haven't eaten in over 24 hours, Zuko has to do something. The child is a young boy, probably nine or ten, and he is pale and thin and gets down on his knees and apologizes to Zuko for bothering him but he's just so hungry. He spends the rest of the money he earned that week from selling wool and buys the kid some cooked meat and bread.</p><p>He smiles wide and hugs Zuko, "Thank you, big brother Lee! Thank you thank you!" Zuko forces himself not to flinch, and awkwardly pats the child on the back</p><p>/\/\/\/\/\/\</p><p>Zuko and Iroh continue to play their little game for a while. Iroh asks Zuko if he is ready to leave, and Zuko makes up an excuse not to. He hopes his uncle doesn't realize how much bullshit is spewing from his mouth but the chances are unlikely. Zuko finds out one morning when Iroh catches him before he can slip out to the field.</p><p>"Nephew, can I talk to you for a moment?"</p><p>Zuko sits warily at their small dining table. Iroh pours tea for the both of them before he begins.</p><p>"Are you happy here, Prince Zuko?"</p><p>Zuko stares at him. "I'm never happy."</p><p>"Well that is sad," Iroh says. "Do you enjoy it here, more than the ship?"</p><p>"I need the ship to find the Avatar."</p><p>"That's not what I'm asking, Prince Zuko. Please, decide for the sake of your own happiness. If you want to leave this farm and return to the ship, we can be packed and gone by tomorrow."</p><p>Zuko looks out the window at the sunny field of koala sheep. "I need the ship to regain my honour and go home…" He reaches up to his face and gently touches the scar. It's been a little over a year since the incident but it still feels fresh and raw.</p><p>"Where is home?"</p><p>"Home is…" He chokes up. "It's…" Flames on his face Azula's taunting laughter burning pain suffering will be your teacher. "I don't want to leave." He finally admits, voice small.</p><p>"Then we will stay," Iroh says, and hugs him.</p><p>/\/\/\/\/\/\</p><p>That night Iroh stands in front of their small mirror in the bedroom, knife in hand, and cuts the bun from the top of his head. He lets the hair fall into the waste bin. He places the knife on the table in front and goes to his bed.</p><p>Zuko knows he isn't forcing him. The knife is there for him if he chooses. Instead he takes his own knife, the one his uncle gifted him all those years ago, and cuts off his hair. It's significantly more than his uncle's, and he feels the literal weight being lifted as it falls in the trash.</p><p>/\/\/\/\/\/\</p><p>Iroh doesn't tell his nephew that he'd already told the crew to report them lost at sea after the first two weeks had gone. He doesn't tell Zuko that for months now, the two of them have already been officially dead and grieved in the Fire Nation. He doesn't tell Zuko that the Fire Lord didn't show up to his son's funeral.</p><p>/\/\/\/\/\/\</p><p>Every morning they rise with the sun. First, they meditate and practice breathing. Then, tea. Then, training. Their land is secluded and far from the main road, and it is unlikely most people are up so early anyways.</p><p>Iroh continues to teach Zuko bending. He helps him with his forms and adjusts where he needs to. He is strict, but never cruel. Zuko learns to control his flame. He learns not to fear it. He learns how to conjure it not from anger, but from its origins: life and energy.</p><p>Secretly, he uses bending to warm the koala sheep on cold nights. Yes, they have wool, but sometimes when they are freshly shaven and huddled together Zuko can't not do it.</p><p>/\/\/\/\/\/\</p><p>Privately, he practices the dual dao blades. At night, when Uncle's gone to bed, he slips them out of his sack and practices his form until his hands feel raw and shredded.</p><p>/\/\/\/\/\/\</p><p>Lots of the children are starving in Jiangshui. It's impossible to ignore the fact, and it's more than Zuko can afford to help with his meagre earnings as a sheep farmer.</p><p>They are on every street corner, and it makes Zuko so sad to know so many of these children were displaced at the hands of his own nation. He may or may not use bending once or twice in town ("...of course I was careful, Uncle, but they just looked so cold!").</p><p>His hair has grown long enough to tickle at his ears when he first takes out the blue mask kept hidden in his belongings. There is a gated community not too far from the farm, home to the elites of Earth Kingdom society. These people are secluded from the war and from the suffering of those right on their doorstep.</p><p>It’s really not hard to break in. At midnight the guards at the main gates are already dozing off. Zuko easily scales the fence a little ways away from the gate and drops inside with agile silence. The large, sprawling mansions are all dark at his time. Zuko creeps through the ornate gardens, avoiding the gaze of guards standing post, and creeps into one house through a second-floor window.</p><p>He holds back a startled noise when his eyes adjust, as it's dark indoors without the light of the moon. He's in a bedroom, and a young girl is sitting up in bed staring at him with wide eyes. With careful movements Zuko brings a single finger to his masked face in a ‘shhh’ motion. With a smile and a nod, the girl whispers, “Are you a spirit?”</p><p>Zuko nods slightly. The girl smiles wider with childlike wonder, and Zuko shoves the guilt down that he is stealing from this family and lying to their children. It doesn’t matter though, the children in the town need their money more than they do. Silently, he exits the girl’s bedroom, trying not to feel like a total creep, and makes sure the hallway is empty before continuing on.</p><p>As a former Prince, Zuko is easily able to navigate the big estate and finds the main quarters with ease. On the vanity are an array of chunky jewellery and coins that Zuko slips into his pockets. Padding past the two sleeping adults, he opens the window and slips out into the shadows to scout a second house.</p><p>/\/\/\/\/\/\</p><p>“Did you have fun last night, Zuko?” Iroh drops the prince formalities. He hasn’t used them since they decided to stay.</p><p>“Yes,” Zuko says shortly and doesn’t offer anything else. Iroh decides to drop it for now and they both focus back on their breathing exercises.</p><p>By the time Zuko has tended to all the koala sheep, it is already mid afternoon. He places his pouch of loot in his bag and tells his uncle he’s going out.</p><p>Jiangshui, despite being relatively poor throughout, is still divided into the ‘good’ neighbourhood and the ‘bad’. He finds a pawnbroker in the ‘bad’ neighbourhood who won't ask questions, and leaves significantly richer with a hood pulled low over his face. Zuko returns to the main street where he knows he will find the children. When distributing the money, a short lecture on responsible spending habits slips out (after a year on a boat with little funding from the palace, one learned to be frugal). Later, he doesn't say anything when he sees them buying expensive pastries.</p><p>/\/\/\/\/\/\</p><p>“Be careful these nights Lee, there is a serial thief in our midst.” Iroh says one day when they are in town. He gestures to a wanted poster pinned to one of the town boards.</p><p>Zuko, who has been a serial thief for a few weeks now, keeps his expression determinedly neutral but internally screams. The poster depicts his blue mask, stating his name as “the Blue Spirit”, and promises a significant reward to anyone with information. “Huh,” Zuko says, “the Blue Spirit is not a very creative name.”</p><p>“Ah, and Fluffy is?”</p><p>“Of course it is! Shut up!”</p><p>/\/\/\/\/\/\</p><p>Despite always carrying his dao blades with him, it takes a whole month of nightly escapades until he actually has to use them. He tries to vary which areas he steals from each night to avoid traps or set ups, and tonight he chooses a standalone estate a small ostrich horse ride away from Jiangshui. The house of the Beifong is notorious for their riches and luxurious lifestyle. Zuko decides they probably have enough to share.</p><p>However, as soon as he steps foot on the grounds, both his legs are engulfed in earth and forced in place. He’d dealt with earthbenders before, but most of the good ones were on the frontlines of the war, which left the inexperienced to guard the rich. Zuko tries to pull his feet free, slashing at the earth with his blades, but he is unsuccessful.</p><p>“Well well well, looks like the Blue Spirit has finally graced me with his presence. I am honoured, Spirit!” The earthbender steps out from her hiding place from behind a meticulously shaped shrub. Zuko is shocked to see she is a young child, no older than ten years old. It’s dark but he can still see her milky eyes and unseeing gaze. She’s blind.</p><p>“Release me!” he says, deepening his voice.</p><p>The child walks right up to him. She’s dressed in clothes fit for battle, and doesn't have shoes on. He lifts his blades threateningly, but she pays them no mind. “I don't think you’re in any position to be making demands, Spirit.” To prove her point she stamps a foot, and Zuko is pulled deeper into the Earth.</p><p>“Okay, fine. I’ll leave your house alone and I won't ever come back. Is that what you want?”</p><p>“No!” The girl asserts, “This is the most interesting thing to happen in a while. I want to fight!”</p><p>Behind the mask Zuko’s eye twitches. “Absolutely not.”</p><p>“Come on, stabby, I know you brought swords! Why, is it ‘cause I’m a little blind girl, and you don’t wanna huwt my precious feewings if I lose? I’ll have you know I’m the best earthbender in the world!”</p><p>She points to herself with a cocky grin. Zuko audibly groans before relenting. “Fine.”</p><p>“Aww yeah!” The girl says excitedly. She stamps her foot again and Zuko is released from his earth shackles. “The Blind Bandit versus the Blue Spirit, here we go!”</p><p>He barely has time to draw his swords before a boulder is hurled at his face. Diving out of the way, he advances towards the girl, or rather the ‘Blind Bandit’. She elevates the soil from under his feet and he stumbles before narrowly avoiding another boulder dropped on him. The Blind Bandit just laughs and continues her unrelenting assaults of earthbending. Zuko manages to leap on top of one of the suspended rocks, and the girl seems to falter for a second. He uses this opening to tackle her to the ground, both of them hitting the floor with a thud.</p><p>Zuko draws himself up and points the tip of his sword to her chest. “I win.”</p><p>He sees the hint of a smile flash across the girl’s face, and it distracts him from the twitch of her wrist. A small stone is pelted straight at his temple. The mask buffers the blow but he is still knocked over and falls flat on his back with the air whooshing from his lungs.</p><p>The girl stands over him, dusting herself off, and says, “No, I win.” Zuko struggles to regain his breath so she continues on. “The name’s Toph by the way, because it sounds like tough. Come and rob me again some day, that was fun!"</p><p>/\/\/\/\/\/\</p><p>Zuko returns the following week. Toph is already at the edge of the property when he arrives. This time she leads him to a clearing near the house, because apparently “watching my dad accuse everyone of the damages to the garden was a major headache!”</p><p>He knows better than to underestimate her this time, and he has a strategy. He manages to get close again by using her bending against her and jumping around elevated stones, but she is prepared this time and right before he can take her down he is met with a face full of dirt. </p><p>Retreating and wiping soil off his mask, he reassesses his strategy. Toph smiles mockingly and gestures him forward. “What's wrong? Scared?” Out of pure spite (and momentarily forgetting his opponent is a blind child) Zuko hurls one of his blades at her, but it barely passes through the air when it’s intercepted by a heavy rock. “Woah there, I know you’re a wanted criminal and all but trying to chop my head off? Really?”</p><p>“You tried to crush me with a boulder! Multiple times!”</p><p>“Fair point,” she concedes. “You know, you were pretty close with that last attempt. I only knew you were there because of your body temperature. You’re like a sword wielding furnace! What’s with that?”</p><p>“Body temperature regulation is an important skill to have. And it’s cold out.” It is late fall, nearing Winter. That explanation wasn’t totally outlandish. Hopefully.</p><p>Toph looks skeptical, but she returns to sparring with him anyways.</p><p>/\/\/\/\/\/\</p><p>On a rare night Zuko isn’t out committing crime or fighting with a small child, he wakes up to a ruckus of noise coming from the barn. And he panics hard, because ‘the sheep are in there, oh shit’.</p><p>He bursts out of the farm house, a sleepy Iroh on his heels. After unlocking the doors to the barn he hastily throws them open, then has to fight his way in as many fluffy creatures rush out into the field with urgency. Zuko lights a flame in his hand to survey the dark barn, and in the corner is a bloodied boar-q-pine feasting on a baby koala sheep.</p><p>“No…” Zuko gaps, “You absolute…!” With tears in his eyes he raises a flaming fist to the predatory creature, but Iroh places a hand on his shoulder and shakes his head.</p><p>/\/\/\/\/\/\</p><p>They find a loose piece of wood in the barn wall that allowed the boar-q-pine to get in. Iroh herds the sheep back inside as Zuko carries the body of his second youngest koala sheep, lovingly named Coal, to a small hole he dug and buries it. For the rest of the night he sits in front of the grave with a small flame in hand as a vigil, wondering why the universe has to take everything from him.</p><p>/\/\/\/\/\/\</p><p>By the time his sixteenth birthday rolls around, Zuko has fully embraced life as a farming peasant. The citizens of the Earth Kingdom greet Lee and Mushi with warmth. People on the street barely glance at his scar anymore when he passes by. Residents of Jiangshui see Lee the hard-working koala sheep farmer with a tragic past, and Mushi his uncle who makes absurdly good tea. The rich see the Blue Spirit as a criminal who needs to be locked up, and the poor see him as a Guardian Spirit of their town. For once, things in his life are simple, and he feels at ease.</p><p>That is, until Zuko returns from a night of thievery to find a flying bison crash landed in the middle of the koala sheep pasture.</p><p>And all Zuko can think as he watches a small child in orange (the Avatar!) roll off the giant fluffy creature is ‘which Spirit did I piss off the day I was born?’</p>
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